A Good Year
by JuliaBeth
Summary: Sequel to Wooing Wu. After all the had happened in the last year with the Wesenrien, Black Claw, and definitely the Zerstorer, the group just need a good year. But with engagements, weddings, babies being born, old friends and family returning, the year ahead was destined to be better. At least, it was until the disaster struck. Can the gang make it through one more thing?
1. June

A/N1: Grimm is the property of NBC. I own nothing.

A/N2: This story picks up at the end of the series. I may go back at some point and write about the events from Tribunal to The End or I may add a few scenes to this story as flashbacks but a little background needed for this story:

Lycanthropia did turn Wu into a Wesen. I thought it was dumb that they were so insistent that he was just sick when you can create hexenbiest so why can't Wesen be created. He is a Wildermann just because that's what he looks like when he transforms.

Renard was under a zaubertrunk cast by Bonaparte when he went so power hungry in the Mayor race. He's still not quite good, but he isn't evil.

Trubel really did kill Juliette. She wasn't brought back as Eve.

For this story, Monroe and Rosalee got married in June.

* * *

Candy Calvert was standing in the lobby of the Portland Grand Hotel with Monroe and Rosalee. She thought she was waiting for Drew to show up. It was her birthday and they were having dinner to celebrate. She couldn't believe how much had happened in the last year. Monroe and Rosalee had gotten married and were having triplets. She had met Drew at their wedding and fallen in love. Juliette had betrayed them all and Trubel had killed her to keep her from killing Nick. Adalind was their friend now and Nick had a kid with her. She felt bad about Juliette's death, but surprisingly Nick and Adalind made a great couple. They had learned that a Hexenbiest could choose to not be a hexenbiest, that Lycanthropia turns humans into Wildermann, and the rat king was real. They had fought the Wesenrien, Black Claw, and a power hungry Renard under a zaubertrunk from Bonaparte. Then there was the whole thing with Zerstorer that only Nick could remember. He had said that they all died trying to fight it. Personally, Candy was kind of glad that the last thing she remembered about that was rushing into Monroe and Rosalee's house to warn Nick not to open the mirror. It sounded like something none of them ever needed to remember again. Everyone was looking forward to a better year than the last had been.

Just the day before Drew had come home looking wiped out. He had thrown his duty belt and jacket on the kitchen table and sat down, pulling Candy into his lap and said, "Today, I took four robbery calls, spent three hours filling out employee appraisal reports on the new recruits, handled two noise disturbances, and worked a wreck on the Washington bridge in the rain."

"Poor baby," she'd smirked and kissed his forehead.

"No one woged, nobody fell under a spell, and not one person tried to eat a baby," he continued. "It was a damn good day."

She had laughed at the time, but honestly, that was exactly what they all needed for awhile. Just a few good days. Maybe even a good year.

* * *

Sean Renard didn't know why he was still at the Portland Grand hotel. He hadn't been invited. He was only there to pick up Diana. He ran a little bit late at work, so Adalind had told him to meet them there to take Diana for the weekend. Somehow, he had found an uneasy peace with everyone and he and Adalind and Nick were actually making the co-parenting thing work with only a little awkwardness. After all, when a man is willing to face down the actual evil incarnate to protect your child, it made the usual co-parenting squabbles seem stupid. Still, he knew no one really trusted him after the whole Zaubertrunk situation where he'd tried to kill Nick, forced Adalind to be with him, fired Hank and Wu, and basically started a wesen war in Portland. He was sure they didn't want him around.

However, when he'd told Diana it was time to go, she had stomped her feet and declared that she wanted to stay and that he always made her leave when good things were happening. Then she'd folded her arms across her chest and declared, "You saved her life, Daddy. You 're involved."

At that Renard laughed but gently said, "But, Diana, we weren't invited to this party and we need to leave."

"It's okay, Captain," Wu had spoken up then. "Stay." He knelt down in front of Diana. "You know what? Your daddy saved my life too."

"He did?" Diana's eyes went wide and she stared up at Sean with unbridled admiration. "Did he save you from the bad people like he did Candy?"

Wu shook his head. "No. He saved me from being a bad person."

"Oh. Were you Verrat?" She asked.

"No, just human," he shook his head again, "But not all bad things are wesen and not all good things are human." He stood back up.

"I like you." Diana smiled up at him and slipped her hand into his. "Don't worry. Candy's going to like her gift," she said in her eerie way of knowing things. "I'm glad because I like her too. I like when she sings."

"I like when she sings, too," Drew confessed.

"Speaking of Candy, shouldn't they be here by now?" Nick asked, looking at his watch.

"They're in the lobby," Wu said. "Monroe convinced her that they are waiting for me to get here from work."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Hank asked.

Before Drew could answer, Trubel burst through a back door, running at full steam.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Trubel stopped in front of the group and tried to catch her breath. "You haven't done it yet, have you?"

"Yes," Wu deadpanned. "And she got so upset that she ran out. Thanks for asking."

"Dude, shut up," Trubel responded, trying to sound annoyed but she was smiling. "Well, let's get started. I'm starving."

"There's a shock," Nick said, walking up and hugging her.

Wu pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted Monroe.

"Oh, you know what," Monroe said, looking at his phone. "I think I misread that last text. Wu has actually been waiting for us in the dining room. Sorry." He took both women by the hand and led them towards a private dining room. He stopped at the door and knocked.

"Why are you knocking?" Candy asked, but he responded by opening the doors.

"Surprise!"

"Oh!" Candy cried her hand over her mouth. "Drew! I said no party."

"I probably wasn't listening," he smiled.

"Trubel!" Candy rushed to hug her friend that she hadn't seen in weeks.

"And she hugs Trubel," Drew cracked though he wasn't offended.

"Sorry, sorry. Thank you," she laughed, kissing him. She hugged everyone else.

"Okay, Diana," Renard said. "You saw the good thing. Now let's go."

"That wasn't the good thing," Diana replied. "We have to wait."

"I can't believe you got Trubel to come," Candy told Drew, hugging him again, before linking arms with Trubel and leading her to the table.

"Like I would miss this," Trubel said.

"Her friend being here isn't the good thing either," Diana reported though no one asked. She grabbed both of her parents' hand and led them over to the table, taking the seat between them.

"So how did you two meet?" Adalind asked as everyone was finishing supper.

"At Monroe and Rosalee's wedding," Candy replied. "I went outside to escape Mom and Dee...,"

"You were throwing a fit," Drew smirked.

"I was..., yeah, probably," she agreed. "Anyway, he introduced himself and gave me donuts."

"After you demanded proof that I was actually a police officer and then insulted my name," he laughed.

"You're name is Drew Wu. Your parents were just setting you up to get insulted," she stuck her tongue out.

"Again, someone named _Candy_ is making fun of my name."

"Was it love at first sight?" Adalind cooed.

"I think I fell in love when I heard her sing," Drew replied.

"Thanksgiving," Candy answered.

"Thanksgiving?" Drew asked, surprised. "I was in Seattle."

"Well, actually the night before you left for Seattle," Candy explained. "Don't you remember the guy who broke into the shop looking for Freddy?"

"That guy wasn't high, was he?" Drew asked, remembering the guy's nervous demeanor.

"No." Candy admitted. "Well, yes, but not on anything you would have known. He was a mauzhertz and he was in trouble with the Verrat. Anyway, when that guy broke in, it made me realize just how much I didn't want something to happen to you because of me."

"Wait, you told me that guy was an addict," he replied.

She shook her head. "You said he was an addict, I just rolled with it."

"I did, didn't I? Okay, then I guess you're off the hook for not telling me the truth," he smiled, remembering that he also let Franco think Candy and Monroe were abducted because of a drug deal gone bad.

"Then Trubel moved in and I had to tell you because she can't keep secrets," Candy winked at her friend.

"That's for sure," Nick spoke up.

"You know, you were the first person I heard use the word wesen," Wu said to Trubel.

"Yeah. I screwed that one," Trubel laughed. "I had to pretend it meant 'without blood'."

"Mommy," Diana interrupted.

"Yes, Darling?" Adalind answered.

Diana whispered something in her ear.

"Okay," Adalind replied. "Excuse us." She got up and took Diana's hand. "Here," she took Kelly from Nick. "He probably needs a break too."

"I'll go help you," Rosalee volunteered but Adalind waved her away.

"Thanks, but I got it. Stay in your seat while you can."

"Okay, Miss Diana," Adalind said, finally getting her daughter alone for a few moments in the bathroom. "Spill it. Why are you insisting on your dad staying here tonight? And don't tell me that it's because you miss all the good things. We both know that isn't true."

Diana looked around as if seeking a way out of answering for a moment before finally looking back at Adalind.

"Because, Mommy, he and Nick, and Hank, and Sergeant Wu used to talk nice to each other, but they don't anymore," she finally admitted.

Adalind wondered how Diana could know that since she had only ever known the men together during and after Renard being under Bonaparte's zaubertrunk and the events with Black Claw, but she encouraged her to go on. "What does that have to do with tonight?"

"They have to remember that they used to be nice to each other and that they still can be," Diana continued, "because if they don't, when the bad thing happens, they won't be able to fix it and if they can't fix it, then my friend won't have his daddy. If my friend doesn't have his daddy, then he won't be here and he won't be my friend so when the really bad thing happens to Kelly, he won't be there to stop it." She looked on the verge of tears.

"What bad thing?" Adalind questioned. "Nothing bad is going to happen to Kelly. Nick and I take very good care of your brother and you." She hugged her little girl tightly.

"Not now, Mommy. It'll happen when we are big," she tried to explain. "I don't know what the bad things are, but I know that if Daddy and the others don't remember that they like each other, then the one bad thing will lead to lots more and one of those things will hurt my brother badly and I can stop it, if I can just get everyone to be nice again."

"Well, Honey, that's not your job," Adalind tried to explain. She didn't try to tell Diana that these 'bad things' weren't going to happen because her daughter had a scary way of being right about things like that. "You don't have to make anyone do anything. All you have to do is a be a little girl, okay?"

Diana nodded solemnly. "But mommy, please try to make them remember if you can."

"If I can," Adalind promised more to calm Diana than to really take action, but if she saw a chance to make them reconcile, she wouldn't be opposed to taking it. She wiped Diana's eyes and kissed her head. "So what is the good thing that's going to happen tonight if it wasn't the surprise party or Trubel being here?" She changed the subject.

"Oh, that! You'll have to wait and see," Diana grinned. "Come on. We need to go back to the table. We're having cake soon."

Adalind let Diana lead her back to the dining room. As soon as they sat down, a waitress brought out a cake and lit the candles. The cake was one of Phoebe Wurstner's masterpieces, all creamy, swirly icing, and roses. Except for the rose in the middle. It wasn't made of icing. It wasn't a real rose either. It was silver and looked as delicate as crystal. Candy stared at the cake for a long moment, then look at Drew, then back at the rose in the center, a smile spreading across her face. It was a box.

"You are such a dweeb," she said, smiling at Drew again. "You know that?"

"Blow out the candles," he replied, trying to keep a straight face.

She leaned forward and blew out the candles to the applause of the group.

Drew took the silver rose from the cake, got down on one knee, and opened the lid.

"Candy, I've never met anyone like you before. No matter what life throws at you, you keep smiling. You see the good in me, even when I can't see it in myself. Especially when I can't see it. You make me want to be the man you see in me. Will you marry me?"

Candy didn't think she could smile any bigger. She ducked her head and covered her face with hands, suddenly aware of everyone staring at her. When she looked up again, she was still smiling. A million thoughts running through her head as she tried to focus long enough to form her answer.

"Say yes," Diana whispered, then clapped her hands over her mouth, as if she was unaware that she'd said it out loud until she heard her own voice. "Sorry," she squeaked, before cover her mouth again. Her face was bright red all the way to her ears. Renard and Adalind were glaring at her but everyone else laughed including Candy and Drew.

"Thank you, Diana," Candy said cheerfully, the tension broken. She looked back at Drew. "Yes."

"Yes?" He replied.

"Yes," she laughed. "Yes."

Drew slipped the diamond ring on her finger, then kissed her as everyone clapped.

Candy wiped her eyes. "Enough. Let's eat some cake."

When Diana was finished with her cake, Renard once again told her it was time to leave. But this time, he wasn't as irritated as he had been the times before. Not that he'd ever admit to it, but he was glad to have been there. Despite all that had happened, he still cared about Drew Wu. He had watched the man in front of him change from a smart mouthed drug dealer to one of the best police officers he'd ever served with and he was happy to see good things happening in his life even if he was only there because Wu had a soft spot for Diana.

"It's okay, Daddy," Diana said. "You can enjoy your coffee. I'm going to go lay down by Kelly." She climbed out of her chair and grabbed his overcoat off the back of his chair, dragging it over to the small sofa Adalind had laid Kelly on earlier when he had fallen asleep. She neatly arranged Sean's coat over both of them, cast a beseeching look at Adalind, and then promptly fell asleep.

Sean knew it was Diana's doing that he couldn't find away to argue with her. Or maybe he didn't really want to.

Over coffee, talk had turned from weddings and well wishes to when everyone had met. Somehow, Adalind knew this was the chance she was supposed to take. She looked at Diana, then at the five men sitting at the table. With an almost imperceptible flick of her wrist, Hank spoke up.

"You know what I've always wondered," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Is how you two met." He pointed from Wu to the Captain and back. "Because I know it wasn't when you were hired. I've heard snippets of that speech you give the rookies."

"You don't want to hear that," Renard deflected.

"No, I do too," Nick said. "The rookies won't tell us. They all seem to think they've been let in on some great secret."

"You really want to know?" Drew chuckled. "I met Captain Renard when he was Lt. Renard and he arrested me." He paused for a moment, then added, "For jaywalking."

"No," Renard countered. "I arrested you for dealing in Stillman Park. I just called it jaywalking because that's all I could actually catch you doing."

"If I was dealing, then where were the drugs," Drew smirked. He had been dealing but Renard had never caught him dealing or even holding.

"I still ask myself that," Renard admitted with a grin. "I believe when I asked, you told me to 'go fuck myself'."

"I did not. If I remember," Wu said. "I said, 'Fuck you, Bitch! You don't have anything on me. I ain't telling you shit.' Then you kicked the chair out from under me." He stopped for a moment. "You know, you used to be a lot more lax on what constituted police brutality back then."

"That was before I had to fill out the paperwork," Renard smirked. "Actually, I was just pissed. I knew you were dealing but I couldn't catch you. You made my buyer four times and when I finally got you on something, you weren't even holding. Are you ever going to tell me how you were doing it?"

Wu smiled and looked around before looking back at Renard. "Fine. I'm in a good mood and the statue on that has run out, so in the interest of putting the past behind us, I'll tell you." He leaned forward. "I never carried anything. People would come buy from me and I would give them a piece of paper with an address and some writing on it. They'd take the paper to the address and Angelo would give whatever amount I had written on the paper in Tagalog."

"I knew you were dealing," Renard declared triumphantly. "Everyone thought I was crazy."

Drew laughed, "I got the idea from another gang that ran up in Seattle."

"I can't believe you were really a drug dealer," Nick replied. "I always thought that was just something you made up to impress the rookies."

"Me too," Hank said with a smile.

"You know you were copying a wesen gang," Rosalee spoke up. "That's how they sell Jay. They sell tickets to an Island of Dreams, a wesen drug den."

"I didn't know they were wesen," Wu replied. "But I did pay attention to how they sold and that they never got caught."

"Well, I'm just glad you decided to take the advice I gave you that day," Renard said.

"Me too," Drew replied. "And I'm grateful that you kept your word." He held his hand out to the older man.

Renard shook his hand accepting the gesture.

Adalind sat back in her chair and smiled. She knew one conversation wasn't going to heal everything the men had been through. One conversation wasn't going to make them 'talk nice' to each other again, but it was a start. She'd done her part and it was up to them now, she thought as they all talked late into the night.

* * *

Please R and R.


	2. July Part 1

A/N1: Grimm is property of NBC. I own nothing.

A/N2: In the interest of posting quickly and not having the chapters get too long and bogged down, for the rest of the months, there will be two or three chapters to keep up with all the characters.

* * *

July

Candy was laying in bed, relishing the fact that she didn't have to go work for once. She'd worked at the diner ever since she'd graduated high school. Between scholarships and work, she had enough savings to last for a few months so, she'd decided to take the summer after finishing college off before starting her job as choir director at Portland Academy high school the next fall.

She stretched and reached for her phone, smiling as she saw the cup of coffee and note on the night stand. There were benefits for living down the street from a coffee shop instead of a bar like her apartment above the spice shop.

She picked up the note.

 _Enjoy your morning._

 _I'll be home around 6._

 _Don't forget we are_

 _going to Angelo's_

 _tonight._

 _Love, Drew_

Candy put the note down and took an appreciative sip of her coffee. How could she forget their plans? Angelo's son, who was Drew's godson, was having his first communion that weekend. It would be the first time she met any of his family, except for Angelo, his wife, Tala, and their kids. Drew's mom, sisters, and grandmother were coming to town the next day for the party. She liked Angelo and Tala, but she was pretty sure that Drew's mother, grandmother, and sisters weren't going to be as laid back as his cousin was.

She got up and slipped her robe on over the t-shirt and shorts she was wearing as pajamas. She went to the kitchen and set her coffee down as she picked up Samson, Drew's cat. Well, she guessed he was their cat now, as Samson seemed to prefer Candy's company to Drew's sometimes and loved hunting in the basement of the spice shop when they stayed at her place.

"You're getting fat, Sam," she said, cuddling him.

Sam meowed pitifully in return.

"But you're still hungry, huh?" she replied, setting him on the floor. "Okay, I'll feed you." She filled his bowl and fixed a bagel for herself. She had to do the laundry and clean up a bit. She started with the laundry, sorting their clothes out, dropping Drew's uniforms in a pile on the floor to take to the cleaners when she went to meet Rosalee and Adalind for lunch.

After taking the laundry downstairs to the laundry room, she came back up to tidy up a bit. She looked around the apartment, her eyes coming to rest on the dent in the wall by the door where Drew had punched it when he'd first started to woge into a Wildermann. Granted, they didn't know if he was a true Wildermann or if it was just the virus. It wasn't exactly something they could test for, but it didn't really matter. Functionally he was a wesen even if he wasn't biologically one. She could still remember the day she had stood in the bay windows and watched as her kehrsheite boyfriend woged and killed Theo Delano. She could still feel the blind, desperate fear and confusion she felt seeing what she couldn't explain. Something that fundamentally wrong. She now clearly understood why Drew had been so mad at them for letting him go through that for so long. It had to be one of the worst feelings in the world. She had run out of the apartment in a blind panic, running the entire six miles to the Spice shop and burst in, babbling like she was crazy.

Later that night, she was at Monroe and Rosalee's because Drew had made it clear that he didn't want to be alone with her until he was sure that he could control whatever was happening to him. She hadn't wanted to be alone. That had made sense to her until about five minutes after he stopped texting. Then she'd gone home. She'd walked in just as he woged.

 _He looked at her wide-eyed and out of control for a moment, but then turned and ran the other way to the bathroom. She woged and followed him._

 _She walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Breathe," she said. "You are still you. You are still in control. Just breathe."_

 _After a few moments, he calmed down and retracted. She did too._

 _"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you were staying with Monroe and Rosalee until I got this under control."_

 _"First of all, getting this 'under control' could take months or even years and I'm not willing to stay away that long," she said. "Second, you seem to think this is something you have to do alone and that's not true. No one goes through this alone. Wesen parents start teaching their children about the first woge pretty much from birth."_

 _"I'm not wesen," he snapped._

 _"Well, maybe not," she replied. "But from what I saw today and how you described it certainly sounds like a first woge to me."_

 _"You blacked out and killed someone?"_

 _"No. But I wasn't alone," she said. "Do you want to know what happened the first time I woged?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"I tried to kill DeEtta. I remember Dee teasing me about being too shy to talk to a boy at school," she said. "I was trying to ignore her but I guess something she said touched a nerve because I remember jumping up from my seat. Then I came to, flat on my back on the kitchen floor. Freddy was practically sitting on my chest, holding my arms down because I had been so intent on getting to Dee that I was still fighting him. I felt like I was on fire. Every nerve in my body was burning, aching to shut Dee's mouth for good. I didn't even know what was happening until he got a mirror and showed me what I looked like."_

 _"Then what happened? How did you learn to control it?" He asked._

 _"Freddy told me the same thing I just told you. That it doesn't matter what form I'm in, I'm still Candy and I am still in control of my thoughts and actions. Even with knowing that, it took months for me to learn not to woge every time something upset me and years before I could woge at will." She put her arms around his neck and kissed him._

 _"I don't want to hurt you," he said._

 _"You won't," she said. "You already have some control over it or you would have attacked me when I came in the door but you didn't. You ran away from me."_

 _"I thought I was going to," he admitted. "For a moment..," he shuddered._

 _"But you didn't and that's what important," she said, kissing him again._

 _"How do I know I won't?"_

 _"Because you are you no matter what form you're in. And you love me," she said._

 _"I do love you," he agreed._

 _"It's always a struggle but I think controlling it will become second nature to you too, and probably a lot faster than it did for me," she smiled._

 _"Will you help me?"_

 _"Do you even have to ask?"_

 _He kissed her passionately. "God, I need you right now."_

 _"I was just thinking the same thing," she replied._

 _"You know, you are really cute like that," he smiled._

 _"I'm always really cute," she retracted and replied with a grin, deciding that probably not the right time to tell him that if he was just 'sick' then he shouldn't have seen her woge then._

Candy shook the memories away and got busy cleaning, so busy that she lost track of time and had to rush to meet Adalind and Rosie. She left the cleaning supplies out and had forgotten about her laundry until she was walking out the door. She ran down the laundry room, hastily stuffing everything in the baskets and dropping them on the coffee table before rushing out again. She was on the MAX by the time she remembered Drew's uniforms still crumpled in a pile on the bedroom floor. Oh well. She could run them down when she got back. Drew's family wasn't supposed to arrive until the next morning so she had plenty of time.

* * *

Adalind was also in a rush too but for her, it was because she had to drop Diana off at Sean's to see her grandmother.

"Elizabeth Renard hates me," she told Nick changing her outfit for the millionth time. "I mean, she kind of has a reason to. I was sleeping with Sean and his brother, but it wasn't like Sean was that committed to me either. But still..., No telling what she is going to tell Diana this weekend."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Nick said, putting Kelly in his stroller and getting him ready to go. "I think anyone who tries to talk down about either you or Sean to Diana will be sorry for it. Grandmother or not." He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "So, are you three wedding planning or baby planning today?"

"Well, the babies will be before the wedding, but we're just gossiping today," Adalind admitted with a smile. She turned around and kissed him.

"Have you ever thought about us getting married?" Nick asked. He would have added or having another baby, but due to the complications with Kelly's birth, Adalind couldn't have any more children. Still, it might have been fun to have at least one when they weren't fighting for their lives and could enjoy the normal pregnancy things.

"I've thought about it," Adalind shrugged, not wanting to seem too eager for this conversation. "I mean, we do already have children. It might be fun to get married."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too," Nick replied, kissing her. "I got to go. Have fun today."

She head Nick calling to Diana. "Have fun at your dad's. See you Sunday."

"Bye, Nick," Diana called back cheerfully.

"Okay," Adalind thought with frustration. "Maybe I should have been just a little more eager this time."

* * *

"Guys," Wu said, leading an attractive woman over to the detectives' desk. "You remember Sheriff's Deputy Farris, right?"

"Indeed I do," Hank replied, sitting up a bit straighter. "What brings you to our precinct?"

"Looking for a change of scenery," she replied. "I'm going to be working with you all for a few weeks."

"Awesome," Hank said. "That means working with me and Nick, right?"

"Actually, I'm going to be working with several departments, but yeah, you're on the list," she smiled.

"Well, you are scheduled to work with crime lab this week, so let's head down there," Wu said, leading her down the hall.

"Subtle," Nick laughed, looking at Hank. "Very subtle."

"Yeah, whatever," Hank blew him off. "I wonder if she has dinner plans?"

* * *

Please R and R.


	3. July Part 2

A/N1: Grimm is the property of NBC. I own nothing.

A/N: AU: Using some characters that actually died in the show.

A/N2: In the interest of posting quickly and not having the chapters get too long and bogged down, for the rest of the months, there will be two or three chapters to keep up with all the characters.

* * *

July

If someone had asked Monroe who was the last person he would have ever expected to show up at his door, he still wouldn't have thought of the man now standing on his porch.

He hadn't even talked to him in years. Well, except for that one phone call. That was the hardest phone call he'd ever had to make.

But here he was, shifting back and forth from foot to foot. Looking much like the last time he'd seen him. How was that possible when Monroe felt like he'd lived a lifetime since then?

"Hap?" Monroe asked, incredulously. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, Dude!" Hap stepped forward and swallowed him in a bear hug. "How have you been, Man?"

"Good, good," Monroe replied, still in shock.

"That's great to hear," Hap said, patting him on the back and stepping back. He started shifting from foot to foot again as if waiting for something.

"Oh, come in, come in," Monroe said, regaining his balance after the shock. He stepped aside.

"Monroe? Who is it?" Rosalee asked, coming down the stairs.

Hap took in the sight of her, in paint covered overalls, with her hair tied back, and a paintbrush in her hand before glancing at her already swollen stomach. "Oh..., Oh, Dude, I'm interrupting," he said.

Monroe introduced him to Rosalee. "This is Hap Laster. Hap, this is my wife, Rosalee."

"Nice to meet you," Hap held out his hand then turned to Monroe. "I saw your dad a few months back. He said you had gotten married."

"Laster? As in?" Rosalee questioned.

"Angelina was his sister," Monroe confirmed.

"Oh. I am so sorry for your loss," she stepped forward and hugged him.

"Thanks," Hap said, looking at his feet, his smile dimming a bit. Then he looked up at Monroe. "Look, Dude, I don't want to impose. I just, well, I was in the area and I thought I would pay my respects to Angie. I mean, if you could just give me directions or draw me a map or something to where you laid her to rest, I'll be out of your hair."

"No, you aren't imposing," Rosalee said, patting his shoulder. "Listen, I was about to go have lunch with my sister anyway. Monroe, why don't you take Hap out to Angelina's grave? Then maybe you two can get some lunch and catch up."

Monroe smiled at Rosalee. She had just said that she was going to call Adalind and Candy and cancel so they could finish the nursery but she knew Monroe wouldn't feel right about not taking Hap out to Angelina's grave personally or about leaving her to finish the painting alone.

"Yeah, that sounds good," he said.

"Well, if you're sure," Hap said, uncertainly.

"Sure," Monroe said. "I'd like to hear what you've been up to lately."

"Alright," Hap smiled that million watt smile of his.

"Well, um.., have a seat in the den and I'll go get cleaned up," Monroe said. He followed Rosalee back upstairs. "Thanks, Honey," he said. "I know you were wanting to get this done." He motioned to the nursery.

"It's okay," Rosalee said, kissing him. "I think you and Hap both need some closure and these guys aren't coming today," she rubbed her stomach. "So, painting can wait another day."

"You are so wonderful," Monroe replied. "You're going to be a great Mom."

* * *

"Look, Mother," Sean said into his phone. "Do not start anything with Adalind when drops Diana off." He listened to her with a roll of his eyes and the defiant look of a scolded teenager. "Be that as it may, we are trying to raise Diana without making her deal with adult problems. Like that Grandma doesn't like Mommy, so just do me a favor and bite your tongue for the ten minutes it takes for Adalind to say goodbye."

"Oh, son," Elizabeth cooed into the phone. "I do believe that little slut has you under her thumb again."

"Yes, Mother. That's exactly it," he snapped into his phone. "Go ahead and do what you are going to do, but don't say I didn't warn you. Diana isn't going to take it kindly and you don't want to know what she can do when she doesn't like you." He hung up his phone and dropped it on his desk as Wu knocked on the door.

"Come in," he said.

"Here is the duty roster for next week," Wu said, handing him a folder.

"Thanks," he said, opening the folder. "Hold on. I'll sign them and you can go ahead and post it." He glanced over the paper. "You really want to put Warner on with Tominson? Aren't they the guys who were fighting in the locker room last week?"

"They were fighting over a woman. I don't have time to deal with that. They can either learn to get along or they can quit. We've got plenty of Academy graduates just waiting to take their spots," Wu replied.

Sean nodded thoughtfully. "Are you going to talk to them?"

"I wrote them up and told them to knock off the fighting."

"Is that it?"

"What else should I counsel them on? Fighting with a co-worker over a woman isn't really _m_ y area of expertise," Wu smirked.

Sean handed him back the folder. "Shouldn't you be on duty somewhere, Corporal?" He replied, intentionally dropping Wu's title by one rank.

"Corporal?"

"I said what I said." This time it was Sean's turn to smirk.

"Yes, sir," Wu said, taking the folder and walked out, clearly not worried about Sean's threat.

Sean sat back in his chair and watched Wu hang up the duty roster. It was about time he replaced Grossante. As Lieutenant, Wu would be able to give Nick access to things Nick couldn't exactly ask anyone else for. That would be good if Sean every transferred to another department or moved up in rank himself. Technically, the Lieutenant spot should go to Hank. Hank had made it to Sergeant in patrol before transferring to Detective and still held the rank, but Hank had already told him he wasn't interested in any higher command than Detective right now. Wu was the youngest Sergeant he had. That could ruffle some feathers. There were definitely some who had been on the force longer but there wasn't any who did all the work Wu did. Franco wouldn't care. Peterson might but since when did Sean care what others thought of his decisions.

* * *

"Your antique Ingersoll?" Hap questioned as he picked up the broken watch still laying on Angelina's grave. He knew how much that watch had meant to Monroe.

"Well, she gave it to me," Monroe replied. "And she died saving my life so it..., just seemed right."

"It was. Thanks, man," Hap said, wiping his eyes. "You know, my most of my best memories in life involve you and Angie." Then he shrugged, "To be fair, so do some of my worst."

"Yeah," Monroe agreed. "I'm just glad we never got caught."

"Me too," Hap laughed. Truthfully he and Monroe had never done anything that bad. At least not by his standards. They had never hunted kehrsheite or other wesens, but they didn't exactly back down from fights with either and he knew Monroe had something in his past about a Klaustreich and an ex-girlfriend but Monroe had never explained and Hap knew better than to push it. However, they never reigned in Angelina and Hap couldn't help but feel that made them at least partially responsible for the stuff she did and he knew Monroe had the same thoughts. He put the Ingersoll back and took off his own watch, woged, broke the watch, and howled as he placed it next to Monroe's.

Then he stood up, retracted, wiped his eyes again, and looked at Monroe. "So how about that lunch?"

An hour later, they were sitting in the Helvetia Tavern, Hap had been talking about traveling the world. Monroe had been talking about..., well, everything he could to avoid getting personal. Hap especially seemed to enjoy the story about how he got the owner of the Raven and Rose to fess up to the blutbad murders.

Finally, Hap brought it up. "Your wife seems really nice. I can't believe you're married. You're like, really married and you're going to be a dad! Dude, what's that like? Are you freaking out?"

"A little," Monroe admitted reluctantly.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Hap finally spoke.

"Look, Dude, you don't have to feel bad that you've moved on. I know you loved Angie, but I got to tell you now that I can, she was not good for you."

Monroe started to speak but Hap kept going as if finally admitting a deeply held belief.

"You two were like fire and gasoline. She always brought out the worst in you. There is no way that you wouldn't have ended up in jail if we," he motioned to the two of them, "hadn't had the moment we did and stopped."

Monroe remembered that moment. They had all been fully woged, hunting way in the Mt. Hood forest thinking they were too far out to run into anyone else when they'd come across a couple of teenagers. A boy and girl who were clearly hiding from other people for a different reason. Angelina had wanted to challenge them to fight, assuming anyone else out that far was probably a jagerbar or Wildermann. It wasn't until Monroe had the boy by the throat that he realized they were just kehrsheite kids. He and Hap had immediately stopped and tried to retreat but Angelina either hadn't noticed or hadn't cared. They had to drag her away. The next day he and Hap checked themselves into a wesen treatment center and Angelina had taken off to New Orleans with Adam. Once, just once, Monroe had gotten brave enough to look up what had happened to those kids. The boy had fared well, treating the whole experience as a wild story to tell about the time he got so wasted he saw werewolves in the Mt. Hood Park. The girl, however, she had been in and out of treatment facilities for years until she finally overdosed when she was about 20. Now, whenever he felt himself close to falling off the weider wagon, he just thought about how close he'd come to crossing that line that you could never get back over.

"And you weren't good for her either," Hap added. "If she was going to be wild, then she needed someone who was wild too. She needed a ride or die. After treatment, you were more 'ask a bunch of questions and maybe meet up later' than ride or die."

Monroe had to laugh at Hap's description of him. It was true. "Truer words have never been spoken, my friend," he said, raising his beer in salute.

* * *

Candy shifted the groceries bags she was holding to on hand and unlocked her door. As soon as the door was open just a crack, Samson was trying to get out.

"Samson! Samson! No," she warned, dropping a bag trying to keep him from escaping out the door. "Sam!" She groaned as he successfully streaked by her, jumping over the bread and other groceries. After freedom he was allowed at her apartment to roam through the building, she knew Samson didn't like having to stay confined to Drew's apartment when he was home. He was headed to the stairwell door and to the laundry room if anyone opened the stairwell door before she got to him. Oh well, she would get him in a minute. She gathered up the fallen items and went inside to put them away quickly.

"Skittles!"

Candy stopped short. Drew's nephew, Alex, was sitting on the sofa with who she assumed was his mother, Analyn, and a young woman about her own age she recognized as Marichu. Drew's sisters.

"Um.., hi," she said, confused.

"Hi," Analyn smiled genuinely. She stood up. "I'm Ana. You must be Candy. Here, let me help you." She took the torn bag and sat it on the counter.

Mari, on the other hand, smiled like someone who had just caught their sibling with their hand in the cookie jar. "Hi." She called down the hall in Tagalog. "Nanay, Lola, Drew's girlfriend is here."

Candy eyed her nervously as she put the rest of bags on the counter. She wondered how they got there. She was certain she had locked the door and she was also sure that Drew hadn't told them how to get in without letting her know they were there.

"My class was canceled, so we decided to drive down early," Mari said as if reading Candy's thoughts. "Angelo and Tala are at the restaurant, we couldn't check into our hotel, and Lola was tired so Drew's sweet building super let us in."

"Did he?" Candy replied with a tight smile.

"Hello, Dear," Drew's mother said, coming in the room. "I'm Mrs. Wu. You must be Candy."

"Yes, ma'am," she replied. "It's nice to meet you."

"You, too, Dear. My mother is taking a nap in the guest room. She's anxious to meet you. Excuse my appearance," she pulled off her apron. "I was just tidying up a bit. You know how messy Drew can be." She looked at the counter. "It's so nice of you to do some shopping for him."

"Yes, ma'am," Candy said, still confused. She looked around, noticing that the cleaning supplies and laundry were no longer out. "Excuse me. I..., I have to grab Samson before he gets outside. I'll be right back." She practically ran out the door. She found Samson by the stairwell door. She scooped him up and sat down on the floor with him in her lap. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Wu.

"Hey, Babe," he said when he answered.

"Drew, when is your family coming down?" she asked.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Guess again."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and Mr. Benedict let them in the apartment," she replied. "Imagine my surprise."

"Oh. Sorry, Baby," he replied. "Why? I thought Mari had classes today."

"They got canceled I guess," she replied. "One other thing. Have you told your Mom that we're living together? Because she seemed kind of surprised," She knew Mrs. Wu was very devoutly Catholic and could guess this wasn't going to go over well.

"Your silence is very reassuring," Candy said when he didn't reply.

"I guess I forgot," he said. "It just never came up."

"Great." She stood up.

"I'll be home in about an hour," he said. "Can you survive until then?"

"No promises," she laughed.

"Hey." He stopped her from hanging up.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too." She put her phone up and carried Samson back to the apartment. "Sorry about that," she said, putting her game face on. She put Samson down.

"Not to worry, Dear," Mrs. Wu said, dismissively. "Do you live nearby?"

"I have an apartment a few miles away," she answered. She began putting her groceries away.

"It's nice you live close enough to stop by," Mrs. Wu replied.

"Oh, get off it, Nanay," Mari interrupted. She turned to Candy. "She wants to know if you are living here. So, are you?"

"Um..., excuse me." Candy escaped to her bedroom. She pulled out her phone to send a text.

 **'I'm going to murder Drew.'**

 _'What did he do?'_

 **'He hasn't told his**

 **extremely religious mother**

 **that we are living together**

 **and she's here.'**

 _'Awkward. I'll warn Nick of_

 _a possible crime scene. I'm_

 _sure he and Hank'll_

 _give you the nice_

 _cell.'_

Candy laughed.

 **'She cleaned our already**

 **clean apartment.'**

 _'Annoying but not_

 _murder worthy.'_

 **'She put away our laundry.**

 **She packed mine.**

 **She packed everything**

 **of mine.'**

She took a picture of the suitcase sitting on the bed.

 _'Passive-aggressive, but_

 _the woman who_

 _would be my mother-in-law_

 _stole my baby. Moving you out_

 _doesn't compare to that.'_

 **'Even condoms.'**

 _'She went in your_

 _nightstand?!'_

Candy laughed. She knew that would get her. Adalind was really uptight about privacy due to the fact that Catherine never let her have any growing up.

 **'Yep.'**

 _"Okay. Let your inner_

 _fox out._

 _I'll defend you._

 _Totally justifiable.'_

* * *

"Hey." Nick walked up behind Adalind and slipped his arms around her waist. "How did it go today?"

"Good," she replied. "I had fun." She turned to kiss him.

"That's nice," Nick replied, kissing her before moving on to pick up Kelly. "And with Elizabeth?"

"She was surprisingly polite," Adalind answered. "Fake polite, but still polite." She sat down on the bed, checked her phone, and burst out laughing.

"What?" Nick smiled, loving seeing her happy and laughing.

"Candy is plotting murder."

"Why?" He laughed.

"Apparently Wu didn't tell his very religious parents that he and Candy are living together," she said.

"Ew. Tell her I'll give her the good cell," he replied.

"I did," she laughed. She answered the text, then looked up at Nick. "Can I tell you something?"

"You can tell me anything."

"I've never had friends before," she admitted. "Not until this last year."

"What about Serena and Camilla?" He asked, remembering the other Hexenbiests targeted by the Mellifers with her.

"They weren't friends," she said. "They were acquaintances or just co-workers at best. Besides, Hexenbiests aren't taught to have friends. We're taught to see every other female as competition to be eliminated. Even when we aren't competing with each other, there's no friendship. We're taught to only associate with other Hexenbiests, so there was no chance to befriend anyone else."

Nick sat down beside her and put his arm around her waist.

She kissed his cheek. "Thank you for showing me there was a different way. I like having real friends."

Nick kissed her head. "Thank you for everything you've done. I'm glad you're happier now."

* * *

Candy made it through the evening but chose to stay at her apartment and let Drew deal with his family.

Her phone ringing woke her up. "Hello?"

"Open the door," Drew said sounded tired and frustrated.

"Okay. Be there in a minute."

She stumbled to the door and slid the latch open. "Hey. What are..."

He interrupted her questions by pressing her against the wall and kissing her.

"I needed to see you," he said, his forehead resting against hers. "I..., I had to leave."

"Okay," she said, slipping her arms around his neck. "Want to talk?"

"No. I want to go to bed." He kissed her again, sliding his hands under the hem of her t-shirt.

"Well, this probably isn't the healthiest way to process your feelings, I don't object to trying," she laughed, letting him lead her to the bedroom.

"I was losing control," Drew admitted later as they laid in the darkness, wrapped in each other's arms. "I had to leave. I wanted to strangle my sister. What if I..."

"But you didn't," Candy interrupted. "Why were you mad at her?"

"She worked Mom up until Mom blew our living together all out of proportion so that Mom and Dad would focus on me instead of her quitting school," he said. "I'm sorry that I put you in an awkward situation," he said. "I should have talked to my parents earlier. It's just...,"

"What?"

"There's so much about my life that I can't tell them lately that I kind of just don't tell them anything," he replied with a sigh. "Our deepest conversations are about the weather and the Seahawks. I mean, how long can I..., what if I'm with them and I lose control?"

"We can make it work," Candy assured him. "Even if you woge, they see it unless you want them to. At least, I don't think they will. Maybe we need to find that out. But we will make it work. You won't have to lose them."

"Hank saw me," he replied. "In the spice shop."

"Yeah, but mentally you were facing Delano so you meant to woge, at least subconsciously," she said.

"Maybe," he agreed. He turned on his side and pulled her back against his chest. He kissed the back of her neck. "Let's get some sleep."

* * *

Please R and R.


End file.
